2013 Growing Season

Thanks for the Chilli offer Loli I'll PM you my address later
Zigs we can be very friendly to the Yorkies , when we are getting something for nowt

 

Oiy @HarryS ....' sommat for nowt' ...that's my line

 

I'll be off to 'Jacks Patch' (part of the group) in a couple of weeks. Last year they had stacks of discounted seed for sale...fingers crossed

 

Far fewer packets this year than previous ... there have been many fewer during the 50% off sale too. Either they sold more in the spring, or replenished just-in-time perhaps.

Don't know about other branches, but in mine they only leave them on the racks for a week or so, then they put them in a large bin - which makes it a nightmare to find anything, so I would recommend not delaying if you get the chance

 

Got a couple of days off work so been catching up with what's going on in the garden:

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Lots of Toms, Courgettes, Chillis & three oriental melons that Ive had to bring in early 'cos Ive killed the vine by overwatering it.

Most of that lot went into todays batch of tomato chutney :

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Which is simmering away nicely now after one cut finger & setting the teatowl alight..

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Just been down to give it a stir.. blimey - its a bit hot with all that chilli !

Mellon might go into wine with some rhubarb tomorrow once Ive put the big pan thru the dishwasher.

 

...That all looks lovely ON

 

You're not suppose to wear it Loli, it's for eating

 

What a great harvest ON. I'm looking forward to making some Tomato Chutney later on,
yours is inspirational..
Jenny

 

Hi @OxfordNick

I just took a look at the recipe for the Chutney. Do you use all of the ingredients? Some of them I've never heard of

 

I keep pretty close to the spice mix, but tend to throw in whatever I have an excess of at the time as well as all the tomatoes, Big, small, Green, Yellow, they all go in. Yesterdays batch had Courgette as well as extra fresh chilli - possibly too much chilli even for me..

I tend to use Ground nut oil rather than Canola & I've never managed to get Sambhaar powder, so use whatever generic curry powder I have open at the time. Everything else should be pretty easy to get although I do have to pop over to one of the Asian / Indian supermarkets so it doesn't cost a fortune. Worth the effort to track down the fresh curry leaves if you can, although Ive used dried before, and I usually give the dried chilli & whole spices a quick wizz in the grinder before starting - I think that the recipe is talking about a mild dry chilli, something like a Kashmir, although they are quite tough to get so you can use the generic Chinese ones, just half as much.

Like most Indian cooking the trick seems to be getting everything ready, get the oil hot & then knowing when the spices are cooked enough to release the flavour & add everything else before they burn.. its not as difficult as it sounds, honest !

Best way I've found to use the chutney is as a sauce for a quick curry - beats the pants of anything you can get in the supermarkets..

 

I've found them just right for eating raw, thank you for giving me some Loli.

 

Since the start of September it has been rather cool. Beans and courgettes have noticeably slowed down. We still haven't had any proper rain at all apart from a few drops now and then which did more harm than good, in my opinion. French beans have developed rust and squashes and courgettes got powdery mildrew.

I have harvested lots of squashes recently.




There are still some on the plants, some nearly ready, some are quite small. I hope the small ones are able to develop enough in the remaining growing season, fingers crossed.

 

Just picked off some stuff before the storm hits.



The fishy collander was a very kind present from @Java&Me